BIO calls for long-term biofuels tax policies

The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), which represents more than 1,000 biotechnology companies, has called for long-term tax policies to be introduced in the US in order to push biofuel developments to commercial scale.

In order to make sure these developments are successful, incentives should be given to ‘technologies with the greatest potential to create new jobs, economic growth, energy security and environmental benefits’, BIO claims.

The push follows cellulosic ethanol producers urging congress to extend tax incentives for cellulosic ethanol beyond its current expiry date of the end of the next year.

In a letter, the Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC) asked the US government to extend the Cellulosic Biofuels Producer Tax Credit and the Special Depreciation Allowance for Cellulosic Biofuel Plant Property.

AEC’s executive director Brooke Coleman says the incentives are needed for ‘ongoing development of the domestic advanced ethanol industry’ and that to ensure ‘stability in the marketplace, and prevent unnecessary job losses, Congress should provide long‐term extensions of these provisions’.

Coleman adds that the tax incentives needed to be extended for at least another five years.

BIO has also written to the US Senate Finance Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure, calling for what it has named ‘alternative energy tax incentives’.

Brent Erickson, executive vice president of BIO’s industrial and environmental section, says the biofuels industry has the potential to add more than 800,000 jobs to the US economy and also reduce US petroleum imports by nearly $70 million (€54 million) by 2022.

‘As the 2010 Quadrennial Defence Review notes, the navy, other branches of the military, and the nation as a whole face a significant national security threat from US dependence on foreign sources of energy. This threat can be significantly reduced with an ample supply of US advanced biofuels,’ Erickson says.

‘Innovative advanced biofuels companies have made great strides in developing new technologies and are poised to build commercial facilities if project financing can be secured in a timely fashion. Supportive, stable federal policy is essential to ensuring that advanced biofuels developers can move forward on these first-of-a-kind commercial projects, which are a critical component of plans to meet the nation’s energy independence and security needs.’

He adds that a lot of biofuels incentives are set to expire shortly and in order for large scale commercialisation to increase these incentives need to be extended and improved.